Of Tinsel
by Dwarfed Half Elf
Summary: Ron and Hermione have to decorate an empty corridor for the holidays. Alone.


"So. We have, an hour?"

Hermione nodded and sighed at the long, empty corridor before her and Ron.

Under orders from Dumbledore, but delivered by Filch, who was told by McGonagall, who was told by Dumbledore, they, as prefects, had to decorate Fireflame the Dragon's corridor.

It was a rather unused corridor. No classrooms branched off from the hallway. In fact, there were only two broom closets and two deserted study rooms down Fireflame the Dragon's corridor. And because of this fact, Ron had something to complain about.

"This is stupid," he said frankly.

Hermione nodded again and glanced at the box of decorations she held in her hands. "Let's get to work. It shouldn't take long. You take that side," she pointed to her left, "and I'll take this one." She pointed to her right.

"Why do you get that side?"

Hermione closed her eyes and opened them slowly. "Do you want that side?"

"I don't care."

"Then why did you comment on it?"

Ron shrugged and dropped his box on the floor. Several strands of tinsel rose up and floated back down into the box.

'It was stupid,' Ron decided. 'Why decorate a corridor no one is going to see? Except, that you're alone with Hermione.' Ron glanced quickly at the girl beginning to unpack her own box. She didn't notice.

'It's strange, how often we're alone,' Hermione thought. 'It's not really fair, though. Since he doesn't care.' She chanced a look at him. He didn't see her and Hermione smiled before looking back at her box.

"How do we go about doing this?" he asked her.

Hermione's smile widened, but she straightened, forgot the smile, and faced Ron. "I say we string the tinsel about four feet from the floor and the holly can be scattered around it."

Ron nodded. "And the mistletoe," Hermione's breath caught in her throat, "can go above the doorway."

Her heart relaxed and she inhaled normally. "Of course." She went back to her own box.

"So," Ron began as he began to sort through his tinsel, "what do you do when you go to your parents' house for Christmas break?"

"We celebrate Christmas, like we do here. My whole family either comes to our house or meets at my grandparents' house. There's enough room at either place for everyone to stay for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, we have a snowball fight, unless there's no snow. Then we play football or something. Then we all have hot cocoa and share stories about the year. My cousins and I stay up 'til midnight, then go to sleep. The next morning we open gifts, eat a short breakfast, then start preparing the evening meal."

"In the morning?"

"Yes, Ron, in the morning. Except my uncle and my father usually take us sledding and we leave the rest of the adults at home."

"What's sledding?"

Hermione grinned. "It's the best feeling! We have either big inflatable tubes or straight wooden, well, they're called sleds. The wooden ones usually have runners on either side. Then we climb to the top of the nearest hill, sit on the sled, and slid down."

"What's the point of that?" Ron asked, trying to untangle a sprig of holly from a clump of tinsel.

Hermione turned around to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it doesn't really do anything, does it?"

"No, but it's fun," Hermione said, turning back around.

"You'll have to teach me."

Hermione blushed, but Ron didn't see her face, though he looked at her, hoping for a comment.

"Well, what does your family do for Christmas?"

Ron grinned. "We don't do much special, except for gifts and a huge dinner. Most of the time, everyone comes home. It's pretty hectic."

"It must be fun, though."

"Yeah. Charlie has all these great tales about near death encounters."

Hermione laughed.

"And Bill once told us about all the cursed Muggle skeletons he found in the most protected tombs. Ginny nearly threw up once."

Hermione shook her head, but grinned, and pulled out her wand to begin attaching the tinsel.

They were silent for a moment, recalling memories from past Christmases. Then Ron voiced something he'd been wondering about for a long time as he found a sprig of mistletoe in his half empty box.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Ron?"

"Um, do you know what a…a _kiss_ is like?"

Hermione nearly dropped her tinsel she was so shocked. "No, Ron," she said slowly.

"Oh."

She too spied the mistletoe hidden in her box. "Do you?"

"No."

She didn't say anything.

"It's just, everyone has some great story about how they kissed so and so under the mistletoe and they were never the same again."

"Ron, I think it was only Fred who got his ear blasted off after a kiss," Hermione said with a grin as she got back to work.

Ron grinned, too. "I don't mean like that. They just say, it was perfect and everything felt right, and all this strange stuff. I just wondered what it felt like."

"So you asked me?"

"Well, Harry's kiss was different. And Ginny would think I was an idiot. So, I asked you."

"Because you assumed I'd kissed someone?" Hermione asked quietly, starting to add the holly now.

"Well, I just thought, you know, with the Yule Ball and everything-"

"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione cried, "Why does every conversation lead back to Viktor?!"

"What d'you mean?" Ron asked quickly.

"The Yule Ball? You know exactly what I mean. Just because I went with him to the ball doesn't mean I kissed him!"

"I never said that you did-"

"But you implied it!"

"Come off it, Hermione," Ron muttered.

Hermione sighed. "I never loved Viktor Krum."

Ron looked around at her. She was facing him this time.

"He is really just a pen pal."

"Yeah well-"

"Yeah well what?"

"If he's only your pen pal, why did you go and visit him in Bulgaria?"

"Who said I did?" she retorted, turning back to her work. She was almost out of tinsel, but there was plenty of holly now.

"Well, he _invited_ you, and you _never_ turn down an invitation-"

Hermione whipped around, marched up to Ron, and smacked him across the cheek harshly. "Shut up, Ron."

Ron leapt back in surprise. "Bloody h---, Hermione!"

Hermione now looked shocked. "Oh, Ron! I'm so sorry! I was just upset and I don't know what came over me!"

Ron smiled. "It's okay. Just, scared me at first."

Hermione gave him a quick hug and went back to her wall. She was very confused now, but refused to let it effect her decorating.

Several minutes later, Hermione declared herself finished.

Ron grinned. "I'm tangled in tinsel. You'd better help over here."

Ron himself was not tangled in tinsel, but everything else was, including his wand, which Hermione found and handed to him.

"Thanks."

Hermione then went about separating tinsel from holly and handing loose strands to Ron, who put them up on the wall.

Once the majority of the holly was free, Hermione handed Ron the main strand.

He took it from her, and brushed her hand with his own.

They both felt it and the tips of Ron's ears turned red.

Hermione cleared her throat quietly and focused all her attention on the stubborn bunch of tinsel that had tied itself in a knot.

Ron stared at her for several moments before proceeding to attach the tinsel across the wall.

Hermione got to the center of the knot and found Ron's sprig of mistletoe. She swallowed and bit her lip before unraveling the rest and handing it to Ron.

"And there's, this," she added, holding up the mistletoe. She felt herself go red.

Ron turned to see, and his ears turned redder. He took the mistletoe and fastened it to the tinsel above him.

"Er, Ron?" Hermione whispered.

"Is it crooked?"

"No, it's just, we're under it."

"Yes, I suppose we are."

"And, I know that you've never been kissed under mistletoe before."

"Neither have you."

"Neither have I."

"Should I sweep you in my arms?"

"If you'd like."

"And kiss you?"

"If that's alright with you."

"It's alright with me."

Hermione stood up slowly and Ron placed his arms on her shoulders and her hands slid around his neck.

Just before their lips met, Hermione saw Ron smile. And she smiled back.


End file.
